There for you
by ClairDeLaLuna
Summary: After Haley Hotchner's death, Emily goes to comfort Aaron. Of course, neither had any idea how this would end up with her pregnant...
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So here it is! This story is sort of a sequel to "Breaking Down The Fourth Wall" (the last chapter. Ps, I updated it a bit. Prentiss hasn't been 'killed' yet) but you don't need to have read that to understand this one. All you need to know is that Garcia and Kevin are engaged, Haley Hotchner was recently killed by George Foyet, Reid and Morgan are married and they adopted a little boy named Matthew. The rest will come. Alright, now on with the show!**

It wasn't supposed to turn out this way. This wasn't supposed to happen. How did this happen? They were friends! Co-workers! And now, now she was pregnant. With Aaron's baby. Aww shit.

It all started two weeks ago...

/ / / / / / / / / / / /

Emily slid into her black SUV, buckling a large, steaming tray into the passenger seat. It wasn't a well known fact, but Emily loved to bake, and she knew Aaron love muffins. Especially blueberry-blackberry-and-chocolate chip muffins. And that's exactly what she made, from scratch, with confectioner's sugar on top. She had had one when they first came out of the oven and they were delicious, if she did say so herself.

Emily buckled herself up and started up her SUV, pulling out of her long driveway and taking a right turn onto the main road. It was a short drive to Aaron's, one she'd made a few times before. She hummed along to the radio as she pulled up to the house. Emily got out of the car, carrying the still-warm platter of muffins to the door, shutting her car door with her foot on the way. Through a little awkward jostling, she managed to ring the doorbell. Sure, it was with her nose, but she managed to ring it, nonetheless.

"Daddy, daddy! The bell is dinging!" Jack exclaimed happily, and Emily could hear the thudding of him running towards the door.

"Jack! Let me get it, buddy!" Aaron called, walking quickly. Emily felt terrible for him. She may not be a parent, but she was a profiler, and she knew the frantic panic for his son that the raven haired man barely hid.

Emily was jolted out of her thoughts by Aaron opening the door. "Emily? What're you doing here?" He asked curiously.

Emily smirked. "What, expecting someone else? May I come in, Aaron?" She asked, adding a smile at the end.

"Huh? Oh, sure. Here, let me get those." Aaron said, taking the platter of muffins from her and placing them on the counter in the kitchen. Emily took her shoes off and smiled, laughing lightly as he peered beneath the tinfoil.

"Blueberry blackberry chocolate chip muffins. My favourite." Aaron smiled, but Emily could feel it was a little strained. Aaron was taking a little time off to mourn and take care of his son. Emily looked at him sympathetically, to which he replied with a once-over, raising an eyebrow. "Is this normal, muffin-giving dress, Emily?" Aaron chuckled, trying to diffuse the tension.

Emily frowned and went to the bathroom mirror in confusion. What was he talking about? And then she saw it. Her outfit itself wasn't that bad. Dark wash jeans, a black shirt, gold necklace, stud earrings. Her hair and makeup was semi-normal for her... but she had flour on her shirt and face, as well as some muffin batter. Oh geez! She was so embarrassed!

As if sensing her distress (it was clear on her face, you didn't need to be a profiler to see it), he smiled and gave a her a gentle flick on the nose. "Calm down, Em, it's not that bad." He chuckled, smiling a genuine smile. Sure, it was accented by pain, a little in the eyes, but he was smiling.

Emily turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow. "I have muffin batter on my nose."

Aaron laughed and bit into his muffin. "Mm... you always did make the best muffins. Haley wanted to get your recipe." He said, a single tear slipping down his cheek. He was appalled at himself. He'd been holding off the pain easily, when in public, so why did his mask slip now? Emily reached up and brushed the tear away with her thumb, her other hand reaching to take his, giving it a light squeeze.

"Don't be ashamed. It's okay to mourn." Emily said softly, leaving her hand on his cheek. Aaron leaned into her hand slightly, as they looked into each other's eyes. Suddenly his mask fell completely, to reveal his pain and sorrow.

"Daddy?" Jack called, peering into the bathroom. Emily removed her hand from his, and from his cheek, to wash off the flour and batter on her face. Aaron's mask went back up.

"Hey Jack! Emily brought muffins! You want one?" The older man smiled softly.

Completely ignoring his question, Jack tilted his head. "Why're you in da bathroom?"

Emily laughed and wiped her wet face with a towel. "Your daddy was showing me I still had muffin batter on my face."

"Em, you missed some." He chuckled, taking the towel and wiping a smudge off her cheek. She didn't understand why, but suddenly the close proximity caused her breath to hitch, her stomach to flutter, her heart to beat faster and her cheeks to turn pink. What on earth was that...? "Don't be embarrassed." He chuckled, putting the towel back and leaving the bathroom, Jack following him. Emily stood there for a moment longer and put a hand to her cheek, before following him out. Yes. Embarrassed. That had to be what it was.

"What kinda muffins are dey, Auntie Emmy?" Jack asked politely.

Emily giggled slightly. He was so cute! "Blueberry-blackberry-chocolate chip. You want one?"

Jack grinned and nodded. Emily reached under the tinfoil and grabbed a larger one, looking at Aaron for permission before handing it to the little boy. "Here you go, Jacky."

Jack pouted at the nickname before biting into the muffin happily, reminding Emily of Aaron. Jack was definitely his son.

Emily laughed lightly, noticing Aaron give the platter longing looks as he played with his empty wrapper. She reached under the platter and gave him another one, before taking one for herself.

"Hey, those are my muffins!" Aaron exclaimed teasingly.

"Baker's rights." She said, sticking her tongue out playfully before biting into her muffin. Mmm... she really was good at baking.

"Daddy, you hafta share." Jack added in a scolding tone, causing both agents to laugh lightly.

"Hey, Aaron! I'm home." Jessica said as she came into the kitchen, smiling at the scene, "aww, you guys look like one happy family." She added, giggling

Oops. Wrong thing to say.

Aaron shut down. The smile was replaced with his customary frown, and Emily was no longer Emily, but Prentiss, in his mind. Emily could feel her face heat up with embarrassment again and she grabbed her coat, slipping on her shoes. "I should probably get going. Hopefully I'll see you soon, Aaron" Emily smiled slightly, going to the door.

"Bye bye, Auntie Em!" Jack called.

"Make sure I get my platter back, okay?" Emily chuckled to Aaron as she passed him, "stealing is a federal offense." That got a smile, albeit a weak one.

Aaron walked with her to the door, still smiling weakly. "Sorry about Jessica."

Emily gave him an encouraging smile back. "I don't mind. Take care of yourself, okay? Everyone's real worried about you." She said, putting a hand on his cheek.

Aaron reached up and put his hand over hers. "You too. I don't want anyone else I know or care about getting hurt."

Emily nodded slightly and removed her hand, leaving. She never knew how that single visit would change her whole life.


	2. Chapter 2

It was about a week later that Aaron returned to the BAU. He put on a good show, acting like he was okay, but… It was clearly just an act. If the team thought he didn't smile before, now it was he didn't even know what a smile was. In fact, the only one he was even _**remotely**_ normal around was Emily, and that was saying something. Still, no matter how badly he was hurting, he came back nonetheless. Today was a particularly nasty case in Brooklyn, New York. It was a serial murder, with post mortem stabbings varying in length, size and number, evidence of rape and, probably the worst part, all of the victims had their eyes removed. What did he do with the eyes? Well, there were six victims, and victim six had victim five's eyes in her stomach, so you can imagine what exactly he did. Oh, and to top it all off? These victims were all girls, with long, dark hair and all around fifteen years old. It was messy, gory, gruesome and a brutal case for Aaron to come back to.

Everyone knew it, but only Emily said anything about it. She walked up to him, eyes level, yet slightly concerned. "Hotch, are you sure you're ready to come back? No one would look down on you for sitting out this one." She said quietly, putting a hand on his shoulder. She wasn't aware of the eyes on her. Namely, Spencer, Derek, and J.J

Aaron removed her hand gently, but his eyes were as stern and stoic as his voice was. "Prentiss, if I put this one off, then what? Suppose I think the next case is too gruesome, too? And the next one, and the next." He said, before giving her a small smile, to reassure her, "I'll be fine, Agent Prentiss. The team needs me, and I need this. I need to see if I can still do my job."

Emily could understand. Or at least, she thought she did. Aaron could be confusing, so whether or not she truly understood was up for debate.

Emily nodded and looked back at the victim board. Something was bothering her, nagging her. Aaron watched her curiously while J.J walked up to her. "Something wrong, Prentiss?" J.J asked her. The brunette seemed focused on something. The eyes in particular.

"I don't think this is his first time killing, although it shows that he hasn't been going at it long. His stab wounds, see? Some are long, some are more like puncture wounds. Some are thicker, some are thinner. They vary in number and arrangement… plus, most of them are superficial."

J.J frowned. Emily had more to say, she knew that. "Is there more than that?"

"Well, why are there such variations? But that's not what's really bothering me. Look at these two victims." She pointed at Haley Jones and Elizabeth Courneya. "These two look as if their eyes were ripped out. See the optic nerves? While the rest of them are clean and precise. But Elizabeth Courneya's is more precise than Haley Jones', which tells me he figured out a relatively cleaner method to remove the eyes. But I think it would take more than two girls to know how to rip out the eyes correctly. It would take precision."

"Surgeon or Taxidermist?" Derek offered.

"No. The killer is disorganized, true to most of this particular kind. The Enucleator." Aaron said, coming closer.

"Plus, if it were a surgeon the stabs would be eater and there wouldn't be a need to stab, really, at all for a taxidermist. No, there's more to this than that. We're missing something." Emily added. She was visibly sickened by the thought of more murders like this, and as much as it bothered him too, and as impressed as he was with her, there was something off about Emily. A long time ago, when Spencer had been kidnapped by Hankel, she had said that she compartmentalized better than most people, and it seemed to be true for the most part, aside from the cases involving children, which seemed to bother her immensely. Although she hid it well, it was clear to him how much it bothered her when children were involved in any way. And while, yes, the victims in this case were children, she seemed more on edge. Paranoid, even.

Derek speed dialed Penelope with a grimace, bringing Aaron back to the present. "Hey baby doll, I've got something nasty for you."

Spencer gave him a little frown. Sure, he didn't mind the flirting, but this was pushing it a little. Emily couldn't help but chuckle, and that sound relaxed Aaron and his worries about Emily. For now.

Since Penelope was on speaker phone (although she probably didn't know it), they all heard her response of, "nasty, hmm? Well, come on my chocolate god. Talk dirty to me."

"Sadly, it's not that kind of nasty." He chuckled, earning a kitten-glower from Spencer.

"Oh, you tease," she said playfully, "so what do you need, hot stuff?"

"I need you to go back into New York's police records. Look for unusual murders, pertaining to eyes, and anything else involved in teen rapings."

"Oh dear, that **is **nasty. Worry not, my lovely, I shall have it to you in a jiffy. Kisses!"

"Keep us posted, Garcia." Derek said before hanging up to see the glowering kitten that was Spencer Reid.

"Jealous?" J.J giggled, causing Spencer to blush.

"So, anyone have any ideas why he wants the eyes? And why is he feeding them to the victims?" David asked.

"Hmm… it's thought that the eyes are the windows to your soul."

"That explains why your eyes are so beautiful." Derek murmured before kissing his husband softly, making him blush more.

"Awww…" J.J giggled, and Emily allowed herself a small smile. She shook her head lightly. She was alone, like usual…

"But why take them out? To remove the soul?" David asked, thinking.

While the thoughts were running through her head, she started to play with her Nazar. A Nazar being a necklace with a charm made to look like an eye to ward off the…

Emily froze, eyes wide. "The evil eye." She said, voice barely above a whisper.

"The evil eye?" Derek repeated louder, dubious. David's own eyes widened in shock and surprise. Of course.

Spencer jumped to his feet, knocking over his chair in the process. "It would make sense! The evil eye is an ancient belief, originating in Greece before migrating to Rome, that if a given person looks at someone wrongly, it will cause the victim to suffer injury or bad luck. A curse, if you will. It could be part of a ritual; if he takes the eyes out of the victim it would take away their ability to curse him. It gives him power, which is what he wants. Then by feeding them to his next victim, they take on all the injury or bad luck of the previous owner, thus, in his mind, relieving him of his own curses."

The team stared at Spencer, and Emily chuckled in amusement. "Do you know everything, Reid? Really?" She laughed.

Just then, Derek's cell rang. "You're on speaker. Tell me you got something, sweet cheeks."

"Depends on what you what you need. If you want icky, then yep. I got icky."

"Behave, Garcia." He chuckled.

"Or what, you'll spank me? Save that for our pretty boy."

Spencer's cheeks went a deep crimson and Emily bit her lip to keep from laughing. Especially with Derek's response of, "Okay, I will," which made him go redder, somehow.

"So anyways, I have icky. Lots of it Do you have any idea how many unusual teen rape-murder cases there here in NY? A lot, I found out. You don't even WANT to know how the walking cane, orange and cellphone were involved…" An audible shudder, "over the past three months, there were two cases of attempted rape on victims similar to our Unsub's preference in Manhatten, and two other of murder, with one ripped out eye each. Nazars drawn near the body. The other two girls were Jenna and Alice Dubont, in Manhatten, and the first murder was Emma Romano, fifteen. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need pictures of cute and cuddly kittens. Garcia, out!"

There was a brief pause before David said, "well, I think we're ready for the profile."

**A/N:**

**Sorry this took so long, really. I had to rewrite this, because the first one had Aaron and Emily too touchy-feel-y. They were too affectionate, which wouldn't happen at work. Not only that, but after rewatching Demonlogy and Eyes Have It, my information was quite inaccurate. So, that's why I haven't updated. Not only that, but I'm getting ready to move across Canada (Ontario to BC!) and so I've been getting less internet time and blah blah blah I could post many other excuses.**

**Now here's something fun! I have a little contest for you!**

**Make a musical setlist for the important scenes in your favourite CM fanfic by me, then PM the list of songs and artist to me. I'll make a poll on my profile and the setlist with the most votes will get to choose what CM fic I write next. (Basically, you give me a prompt and a pairing)**

**I will write almost any pairing, but I prefer to write Morgan/Reid and Prentiss/Hotch. I will also easily write Garcia/Morgan, Prentiss/Morgan and J.J/Reid, but like I said, I prefer M/R and H/P.**

**Ciao~**

**LunaNyx14**


	3. Update

Started rewatching Criminal Minds... and so you'll be glad to know that I will probably be starting this fic up again :)

Also, for any readers of my other stories, I will most likely be removing ones I have no intention of continuing and rewriting some of my older, unfinished ones. Who knows. I might even continue them.

Anyways, that's all I wanted to say :)

Ciao~  
>LunaNyx14<p> 


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